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" Un'irn STATES PATENT tr er-t;

MARY J. SPENCER, OF BROOKLYN, NEIV YORK.

SCHOLAR S COMPANION.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 291,415, dated January 1, 1884.

Application filed May 14, 1883. (No model.\

the metallic boxes heretofore employed by turbance. 2o

y school children for containing their pencils,

pens, erasers, rubbers, and sponges. The boX heretofore made for this purpose has been called the scholars companion, and is generally known by that'namc. In use, noises are made by the careless deposit of the box upon the desk, or by allowing it to fall, or by the rattling of its contents. Such noises are disturbing in school, and it is the object of my invention to prevent this cause of dis- To that end, I construct for containing scholars implements a case made of flexible material-such as cloth or thin leather -and provide parallel elongated pockets for separately containing pencils and pens,

together with apocket for containing rubber and chalk, and-a water-proof sponge-pocket for containing a sponge of considerable size,

thepockets for containing the pencils and sponge being soarranged that a flap at one side of the structure can be folded over. their elongated pockets.

months, and the case can then be rolled up 1 upon an axis parallel with the longitudinal axis of the pencils and pens contained in the The accompanying drawings, illustrating my improvedscholars companion, are asfollows:

Figure l is a view of the inside of the case as it appears when unrolled. Portions of the pocket-coverings are represented as broken out, in order to show the contents of the pockets, and the flap for covering the ends of the sponge and pencil pockets is represented as only partly buttoned. Fig. 2 is a transverse section of the case as it appears when rolled up. a

The drawings represent a case, A, made of enameled cloth or othersuitable fabric,having formed upon itsinterior a pocket, B, for containing pen-wiper, rubber, or other articles,

and a water-proof spongepocket, O, for containing a sponge, G, fastened to one end of thecord 0*, the other end of which is secured E, F, and G are provided for containing pen,

pencils, and ruler. The flap a is provided for folding inward and covering the mouths of the pockets 0, D, E, F, and G. To secure the flap in position when folde inward, it is provided with button-holes a for attachment to buttons a secured to the inside of the case. The outer wall of the pocket 13 is provided with the button-hole b for engaging the button I), in order to fasten the mouth of the pocket 13. It is desirable that the sponge shall be contained in a water-proof pocket, and, for that reason, if the fabric of which the case is composed is not of water-proof char aeter, I line the sponge-pocket with oiled silk or other suitable material which is waterproof. I provide my case with one or more straps, H, to embrace and hold it when rolled up.

The advantages of my improvement are,

that it can be rolled up into comparatively small compass, and can then be handled or let fall without causing noise. At the same time there is provided in it the large sponge-pooh et, which is water-proof, and the guard-flap which folds over the mouths of the sponge and pencil pockets, and prevents the pencils and pens from falling out.

I am aware that flexible dressing-cases have been provided with sponge-pockets made of oiled silk and closed by a gathering-cord inserted through a hem around the mouth of the pocket. Such a mode of construction causes the sponge, when the mouth of the spongepocket is closed,to be compressed into a ball, which interferes with the longitudinal rolling up of the dressing-case. In my invention there is no gathering of the mouth of the sponge-pooket tending to compress the sponge into a ball when the m o'uth isclosed; but, on

the contrary, the necessary protection of the sponge-pocket is afiorded by the overlapping upon it of the flap, which also overlaps and closes the mouth of the elongated pockets. There being therefore no previous compres sion of the sponge, it is flattened into a curved plane by the rolling up of my improved receptacle, and does not prevent the symmetrical rolling thereof.

I claim as my inveution-- As an improved article of manufacture, the

receptacle for schoolehildrens implements mouths of the parallel elongated pockets, and herein desoribed,' the same consisting of the l prevents the contents of the sztid pockets from' 10 case A, composed of flexible inateriahprovided escaping.

with the flap a at one end and provided with T 4 T the water-proof sponge-pocket O, and with MARK SI T two or more parallel elongated pockets so an. \Vitnesses:

ranged that the buttoning down of the flap a ROBERT C. HoWEs,

closes the mouth of the sponge-pocket and the E. H. \VITJLIAMs. 

